One of the entries to our house has a rather tight space where we currently keep our shoes. It is very hard to find any sort of storage option that will fit into the small space. I have been searching for something that would do the job and I came across this solution on Apartment Therapy (via Not Martha).

I am one of the least handy people when it comes to household projects, but looking over the directions even I may be able to accomplish an easy installation of this J-Me inspired shoerack. This was exactly what we were looking for and it is also a less expensive alternative to the J-Me product which wouldn’t have fit in the space anyhow.

Before you put up these shoe racks, please check out the range of slimline shoe cabinets at IKEA. Much more attractive, they hold loads more shoes and the shoes are hidden. Key trays etc can also go on the top.

We used racks from IKEA that are supposed to be kitchen shelves – 5 metal bars running parallel to each other and to the wall. Two stacked one on top of the other. The height of the support provides good spacing from the floor as well as from each other. Holds roughly 4-5 pairs of shoes on each rack. They weren’t very expensive, were premade and ready to go, and while we still see the shoes, it helps us know which ones are there and which ones we need to search for. (Makes me think we need fewer shoes!)

This looks cool, but it probably wouldn’t work in a rental apartment where you don’t want to nail things into the walls. I live alone, and I wanted a shoe rack that would just hold 3-4 pairs of shoes. All the ones I looked at were just too big. I ended up using a couple of stackable racks that are normally used to hold dishes in your kitchen cabinets. They were inexpensive, and just the right size.

For people in the snow belt, shoes and boots have to dry. Make a rectangle of 1×2 wood to fit inside the rim of a boot mat. Drill 6 holes along each long side of the rectangle and insert 1/2″ dowels in the holes. Make half the dowels 18″ and half 12″. This rack requires the floor space, but it allows 6 pairs of shoes to air and dry. I’ve used one for about 20 years.

This is a great idea! If you’re concerned about the toes of the shoes getting squished by their own weight, you could try it this way: make the upper shelf tall enough to accommodate clear plastic shoe boxes. I haven’t really thought this out, but I think it *should* work…

Like Jen, I’m not seeing how this would really take up any less space than some regular old shoe shelves that are only as deep as the shoes. Even if it does take less room when the racks are empty, I know that my shoe rack always has a couple pairs on it, as it’s kind of hard to wear all of your shoes at once.

My house just has a set of stackable wicker shoe shelves. They are only as deep as a typical pair of shoes, and it works really well in our tiny, tiny entryway. And, since it is not attached to the wall, we could always pick it up and move it somewhere else if we ever have to for some unforeseen reason.